Keep up to date with the latest News here.

• Head Teacher's BLOG!

  Fri 28 Jan 2022 Mrs Bates

  Week Ending 28^th January 2022

   

   

  Head Teachers’ Awards this week have been awarded to:

   

  Toby – Orange 1 - For a fantastic improvement in his writing. Toby has been reluctant to write in the past but is now writing independently, applying his phonics and using his checking time grid.

   

  Paisley – Orange 1 - For a huge improvement in her attitude to writing. She is now using her phonics independently and checking the grapheme grid if she is unsure.

   

  Isaac – Orange 1 - For amazing effort with his writing. He tried really hard to remember finger spaces and to apply phonics skills.

   

  Harry – Orange 1 - For fantastic independent writing about the class dragon. He tried hard to spell the tricky words they have been learning.

   

  Alfie – Orange 1 - For a brilliant attitude to the independent writing about the class dragon. There was no stopping him

   

  After teaching in three classes throughout the week, I would also like to provide a big shout out this week to the following children who have stood out to me personally:

   

  Isaac – Green 1 – For exceptional determination when using base ten equipment to support with his maths. He never gave up and the smile said it all at the end of the lesson.

   

  George and Harry – For very mature responses during PSHE work about how to assess and manage potential dangers, risks and hazards in day-to-day life.

   

  Imogen, Noah Ke, William and Finley – Indigo 1 – For working really hard to use exciting vocabulary, expanded noun phrases and adverbial phrases when writing a sequel to a story.

   

  ‘Elvis’ the chipmunk (with his wonderful sweeping brush) has been in covid outbreak management this week. He will be out again next week checking on classroom tidiness and cleanliness around school.

   

   

  Thank you so much to a pleasing number of parents for the recent interest in becoming a Governor. Being a governor is a valuable part of school life and we look forward to getting more people involved with the governing body. Governors support with strategic developments within the school and support and challenge leaders about the future developments of the school. I look forward to working with a larger governing body over future months and years.

   

  Thanks also for the interest in the idea of a new gardening group within school. We look forward to developing the grounds, potting more plants, working on the greenhouse and much more…Mrs Wright will be in touch with a plan soon.

   

  Some very positive feedback from Coach Jimmy Jumpshot about Indigo 2, Year 2 and the afterschool basketball club this week. More than worthy of sharing and makes us very proud...

   

  Dear Mrs. Bates,

  we had an outstanding day of basketball at your school today 26/1/2022.

  I spoke to a Year 5 class, and the after-school club, regarding "What are the qualities that make a good leader?" I have attached the answers which they gave. We challenged ourselves to try to be the type of person who displays these qualities every day.

  All through the day, we had exceptional effort being given from highly motivated children who wanted to learn and do well in Year 2 and 5. I was also made to feel welcome in the school by children who passed me in the hallway.

  I found it interesting that both groups I spoke to said 'courage' was an important quality and one of the groups said 'forgiveness'. I photographed the contributions for your review.

  Keep in mind, during the afterschool there were only 8 children, so I was getting multiple engagement from some students. The class I took outside were also a pleasure to work with. Even though it was quite cold they were highly motivated and enthusiastic.

  Thank you to all the teachers who supported me today.

  Looking forward to next week. Sincerely,

  Coach Jimmy Smith

  Basketball Development Officer

   

   

  We hope that you all have a great weekend. I’m off to the Peaks this weekend with family. Enjoy your weekend making further memories.

   

  Warm regards,

   

  Mrs Bates  

  

• Head Teacher's Blog

  Fri 21 Jan 2022 Mrs Bates

  Week Ending 21^st January 2022

   

  The national average for attendance in primary schools has always been approximately 96%. During the pandemic, attendance has fallen nationally. However, the latest national figures, for England, show that attendance is slightly increasing.

   

  “Attendance in state-funded primary schools was 91.0% on 6 Jan, up from 88.6% on 16 Dec”.

  https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak

  I am proud to share that our whole school attendance is currently way above the current national average at 94.53% and only slightly below the ‘norm’ of 96% pre-Covid. In addition, we have 4 classes in outbreak management so I feel we are doing well.

   

  All 14 classes, from Reception to Year 6, are above the current national average of 90.7%, and the classes in-line this week with historic national averages (96%) are as follows:

   

  Red 1, Yellow 1, Green 1, Blue 2 (100%) and Violet 1

   

  Head Teachers’ Awards this week have been awarded to:

   

  Rosa – For writing a truly breath-taking piece of creative writing including the subjunctive mood. It gave Mrs Parnell goosebumps as she read it.

   

  ‘Elvis’ the chipmunk (with his wonderful sweeping brush) has awarded the cleanest classroom award this week to:

   

  Orange 1, Orange 2, Yellow 2 and Blue 2

   

  Once again, I covered different aspects of teaching and learning this week. This has entailed maths in Year 2, Times Tables Rock Stars in Year 4 and Morning Maths in Year 3! I’ve had a great week and school has a positive, developing vibe.

   

  Covid, of course, continues to challenge us. Thanks for the patience and adhering to the guidance and measures at short notice. Keep safe and vigilant.

   

   

  We hope that you all have a great weekend.

   

  Warm regards,

   

  Mrs Bates  

• Head Teacher's Blog

  Fri 14 Jan 2022 Mrs Bates

  Week Ending 14^th January 2022

   

  The national average for attendance in primary schools has always been approximately 96%. During the pandemic, attendance has fallen nationally. However, the latest national figures, for England, show that attendance is slightly increasing.

   

  “Attendance in state-funded primary schools was 91.0% on 6 Jan, up from 88.6% on 16 Dec”.

  https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak

   

  I am proud to share that our whole school attendance is currently way above the current national average at 94.72% and only slightly below the ‘norm’ of 96% pre-Covid.

   

  All 14 classes, from Reception to Year 6, are above the current national average of 90.7%, and the classes currently in-line with historic national averages (96%) are as follows:

   

  Red 2, Yellow 1 and Blue 2

   

  Head Teachers’ Awards this week have been awarded to:

   

  Arthur – Red 2 – For his super map drawing skills. I loved seeing his map of the Gruffalo trail and the different adventures along the way.

   

  Lyla – Red 1 – For amazing independent writing, where she was able to write a list of all the animals that she loves. She also had a great attempt at the word ‘cheetah’.

   

  ‘Elvis’ the chipmunk (with his wonderful sweeping brush) has awarded the cleanest classroom award this week to:

   

  Violet 2 – I know that Miss Marvin will be incredibly excited :)

   

  I have to say that despite the Covid cases this week, I have loved covering some classes; being involved with the teaching and learning and getting to work with the children. I have spent time this week with Indigo 1 and we have been loving the English work planned by Mr Khan. We have been reading a great book called ‘The Island’ and we were all shocked today by the ending! Such a tragic book, which concentrates on how our actions can make others feel and how some people are not accepted into a society because of their differences. Thank you to the class for making me feel so welcome and working hard. I have really enjoyed the week with them.

   

  Several parents, since January, have started to ask us questions about the behaviour ladder we have in school. This is nothing new and has been in place for the last three to four years (with only minor tweaks along the way). Please feel free to have a read of our policy on the website, which shows the ladder on the last few pages, using the following link: https://www.greasleybeauvale.co.uk/key-policies/

   

  We pride ourselves on dealing with behaviour in a fair and productive way. We have a ‘firm but fair’ approach and if we need to challenge behaviours and choices then we do so in a very consistent way across school.

   

  The children have been through a tough time with the pandemic, and we are very aware that many children have needed support and ‘recovery’, which is why we took a slightly different approach when children first returned to school. We are into the third academic year of the pandemic and schools have been fully open now for many months. We do expect the children to behave responsibly, respectfully and safely and where this does not happen, this will be challenged.

   

  I hope that you can support us with our decisions and discuss behaviours at home with your child when the ladder is used. Ofsted praised our behaviour process and the behaviours they saw in school. However, we want to make behaviour and attitudes even better with consistency and high expectations. If anyone has any questions then please do get in touch with myself, Mrs Barrowcliffe (behaviour lead) or Mrs Parnell (behaviour team).

   

  Keep safe and keep vigilant following the rise in cases this week. Please refer to the WEDUC letter from myself yesterday with advice on what to do about isolation periods, LFT testing and when to book in for a PCR.

   

  We hope that you all have a great weekend.

   

  Warm regards,

   

  Mrs Bates  

• Head Teacher's Blog!

  Fri 07 Jan 2022 Mrs Bates

  Week Ending 7^th January 2022

   

  The national average for attendance in primary schools has always been approximately 96%. The latest national figures, for England, show that attendance in schools is falling due to the pandemic. This is no surprise really  based on the increasing cases of COVID-19.

  Attendance in state-funded primary schools, as of the 9th December, was 90.7% (down from 91.1% on the 25th November). I am proud to share that our whole school attendance is currently way above the current national average at 94.74% and only slightly below the ‘norm’ of 96%

   

  All 14 classes, from Reception to Year 6, are above the current national average of 90.7%. The classes currently in-line with historic national averages (96%) are as follows:

   

  Red 2, Yellow 1 and Blue 1 and Blue 2

   

   

  The award of the neatest and tidiest classroom went to Green 1 this week. They were the first class to be awarded with the Elvis 'the chipmunk' trophy (with his sweeping brush) and they were delighted. The challenge is now on for the rest of the school.

   

   

  A great week in school as we returned from the Christmas break. Cases of Covid are on the rise over the country. However, over Christmas, people have had the chance to spend it with their family and friends and this made a pleasant change from the Christmas many of us missed out on last year. I am aware that many of our families were affected by Covid this year, and many people were isolating over Christmas, so balance is now required.

   

  The challenge is ensuring that schools remain open and children are able to learn, whilst trying to socialise and stay safe! We will do our best this end and hopefully the new guidance will begin to work – we shall see!

   

  It was great returning to school this week to see bright, smiling faces and respectful children. I introduced our new Deputy head Teacher, Mrs Rachel Bailey, to all the classes on Tuesday and over this past four days all the children have been greeting her with cheerful welcomes and waves outside her new office window! This really has helped her to feel very welcome and she has settled in so well. Already, she has taught Mr Leyshon and Mrs Clarke’s class and there are plans over the next few months to have Mrs Bailey supporting Year 2 and 6 as we lead up to the statutory tests that they take part in during the summer term.

   

  Walking into classes this week, we have seen children engaged in their learning, being creative and eager to discuss their learning with us. We have been shown some great pieces of home learning already and children really are enjoying the start of their geography learning.

   

  Reception blew us away this week with the way in which their learning was based around the Gruffalo. They came on Tuesday dressed as a Gruffalo character, or using a prop from the book an. Baking with 60 children was no mean feat for the Reception staff, and together the children each made fruit skewer tusks, owl cupcakes, cookie crisp giant feet and Gruffalo sweet faces! PERFECT : )

   

  A great first week back and lots more to conquer this term. Writing continues to be a big focus for us, particularly spelling!

   

  Once again, Happy New Year and welcome back!

   

  Keep safe,

   

  Mrs Bates